Rendering depicts the $114 million Center for Cyber Security Studies at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. The project is being delivered by the design-build team of Turner and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Turner tapped its Turner Engineering Group to consult on the project. Since launching in 2015, TEG has expanded its services to include design peer review. Courtesy SOM. Click here to enlarge.

Contractors need to be nimble enough to position themselves for whatever the market yields. “We want to be a ‘must consider’ for every project, and to be that, we must constantly improve,” says Pat Di Filippo, Executive Vice President of Turner’s Northeast region.

For the past several years, design-build has accounted for 10–15% of Turner’s work. “If you’re going to do design-build, you have to be able to drive the design,” Di Filippo says. The company is also pursuing projects more aggressively via public-private partnerships.

Last year, the company launched Turner Engineering Group, which now has 16 experts. Di Filippo, who leads the group, says there is “a tremendous thirst” for TEG’s services throughout the company. Its services have been expanded to include design peer review.

One recent project where TEG is providing services is the $114 million Center for Cyber Security Studies at the U.S. Naval Academy, which the design-build team of Turner and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has been selected to deliver. The 206,400-sf facility will include a research and testing tank to support its engineering and weapons labs, an observatory, offices, and collaborative spaces for students and faculty.

Turner also has been cultivating its self-perform capabilities, such as concrete pouring. Last year, it hired nine regional Lean practice managers to streamline construction and reduce costs.

Making Turner a Lean practices company is a work in progress. “But the results are moving in the right direction,” Di Filippo says.

He is cautiously optimistic about business, especially in New York City, where several mega-projects are in the works. “We’re geared up for opportunities,” he says.

The $24 million renovation of the historic Van Antwerp building in Mobile, Ala., involved working on a tight urban site and reconstituting the building for corporate and mixed-use tenants. Renovations included an 11-story addition, a new parking deck, and completely new interiors. The Building Team consisted of Goodwyn |Mills| Cawood (architect and designer), Doster Construction (GC), and Thompson Engineering (engineer). Photo: Mason Fischer Photography

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